Scorched

she was drenched in sweat, but she paid it no mind, looking down at her dragon, reliving her pain, feeling her fear. Finally she understood. In fact, she understood perfectly.

Oh, Emmy…I’m so sorry.

No wonder the dragon was so hesitant to enter the world. The world had left her behind. Everyone she knew was dead. Had been dead for millions of years. They’d abandoned her, sacrificed her to save themselves— left her all alone.

My mother left me too, she told Emmy. I trusted her and she let me down. Left me behind without even saying good-bye. She stroked the shell with gentle fingers. I promised myself I’d never trust anyone again after that day—until I met you.

The dragon stirred from inside the shell, swimming around in a hazy black shadow. Trin dug her fingers into the crack, trying to widen it as she’d seen Emmy’s mother do.

You flew me through the skies. You took away my fears. You told me you’d never let me fall. She drew in a breath. Well, Emmy, I’ll never let you fall either. You can trust in that. You can trust in me. As you told me, we are destined…

She closed her eyes, the exhaustion overwhelming her at last. There was nothing else she could do. Nothing else she could say. She only hoped Emmy could hear her. That she believed what she’d said and—

“The egg! It’s cracking!”

Trinity looked down at the egg. Sure enough, it had cracked wide open, all the way down each side. She watched, not daring to move, as a tiny, birdlike head popped out from the now broken shell, bobbing up and down on a wobbly neck. The dragon regarded her with large, serious blue eyes rimmed in gold—eyes she would recognize anywhere.

“Emmy!”

The dragon let out a triumphant squawk, tiny wisps of smoke puffing from her snout. The room exploded in applause, everyone rushing to witness the miracle for themselves. But Trin held up a hand, forcing them back. To give her baby dragon space to breathe. To protect Emmy as she’d promised she would.

She was the Fire Kissed, after all.

She ached all over, as if she’d been hit by a truck. And she was so exhausted she could probably sleep for a month. But it was all worth it to watch Emmy spread her tiny, webbed wings and give them a tentative flap. The dragon looked up at Trinity shyly, inquisitively. Trin found herself laughing, tears still splashing down her cheeks.

“They’re beautiful,” she assured the tiny dragon. “Just like your mother’s.”

The dragon squawked happily, making her way up Trinity’s arm and settling contentedly on her shoulder. Her claws tickled and tugged, but Trinity didn’t mind at all. She reached up and scratched her dragon on the ridge of her nose. Emmy purred in delight. Trin felt a little like purring herself.

For the first time in her life, she felt whole. Complete. And she would do anything to keep this baby dragon from harm.

Chapter Thirty

Two nights later, there was a massive celebration—all the Potentials, all the members of the Dracken gathering together to celebrate Emmy’s birth. The tables and chairs at the food court were cleared away and a few of the Potentials who were musically inclined set up a makeshift stage and blasted out the tunes. Aiko turned out to be quite the talented singer, belting out hit after hit to the cheering crowd. Even Trevor got into the spirit, asking Rashida to dance. And she didn’t even tease him before saying okay.

Through it all, Trinity sat in a special seat of honor at the head of the room, gaudily decorated with green ribbons and bows. She was too drained to dance or join in with the festivities, but she was having a blast watching everyone else. And little Emmy, sitting proudly on her shoulder and wearing a red ribbon, wasn’t bad company either.

“She’s so cute!” Malia cried, coming over with Rashida and Aiko during the band’s break. They’d been allowed to change out of their training uniforms for the night and each wore sparkling emerald cocktail dresses in honor of Emmy.

“It’s hard to believe she’s really here!” added Aiko. “I feel like we’ve been waiting forever.”

“Some of us never believed it was going to happen at all,” added Rashida, giving Trevor a knowing nudge. He rolled his eyes and blushed.

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. Then he turned to Trinity. “She’s brilliant, Trin. Truly brilliant. Good work.”

Trinity grinned with pride, reaching over to stroke Emmy on the nose. The little dragon danced and purred happily, causing the Potentials to crack up. Malia reached over, daring to touch her tiny nose and Emmy rewarded her with a big slurp of her tongue. Malia screeched in surprise, yanking her hand away, then laughed sheepishly and reached out to pet her again.

“I can’t wait to get one of my own!” she cried. “It’s going to be so amazing.”

Trinity nodded happily, a strange sense of contentment washing over her. It was strange. In some ways, nothing had changed—she was still technically trapped here, still unable to walk out the front doors. And yet now, with Emmy here, she wasn’t all that sure she’d want to even if she could.

It wasn’t easy taking care of a newborn dragon, and it didn’t take long for her to realize she had no idea what she was doing. Thankfully, the Dracken had been endlessly patient, showing her how to feed Emmy, to bathe her, to keep her warm. Not to mention babysit her at times when Trin just needed a few precious hours of sleep. And most importantly, they showed her how to use her gift to communicate with the dragon, to ensure Emmy not only felt safe but loved. That was the fun part, actually—to spend hours just cuddling her dragon while whispering in her mind all the things they would do together. Trinity found she never felt happier than when Emmy was in her arms.

She tried to imagine what it would have been like if she and Emmy had been out in the world when the dragon was born. The creature probably wouldn’t have made it through her first night—or have been able to hatch at all. The Dracken had made it all happen, continued to make it all happen, and Trin found herself left with a grudging sense of gratitude and respect for the ragtag team of time travelers and orphans. And she felt bad for being so suspicious at first.

It still wasn’t home, but at times it felt pretty darn close. And it would feel even more so, she knew, when her grandpa joined her at last.

Wait until you meet him, Em, she sent. You’re going to love him as much as I do. The little dragon bobbed her head excitedly, and Trin tried to imagine her grandpa’s face when she presented Emmy to him for the first time. The moment he would realize, without a doubt, that he’d been right all along—that all his lifelong dreams had finally come true.

She looked up just in time to catch sight of a dark figure skulking across the back of the room. Her heart snagged. Caleb. She hadn’t seen him since their little trip to the Nether. He hadn’t even shown up with the others after Emmy’s birth. After all the work he’d done to bring the little dragon here, he should have been first in line to greet her. But instead he stayed away, lurking in the shadows. And she was pretty sure she knew why.

She sighed. Time for an apology.

“I’ll be back,” she told her new friends. The girls gave her knowing looks and smiles as they followed her gaze.

“Take your time,” Aiko teased.

“Yeah, no rush at all,” added Rashida with a wink.

She shot them a weak smile—at times, they really did seem like sisters—then pushed across the dance floor. It took a while to cross—everyone wanted to talk to her and meet Emmy—but finally she managed to reach the edge of the food court. Spotting Caleb trudging down the darkened hall some distance ahead, she picked up the pace.

“Wait!” she cried.

He stopped, stiffened, then turned around slowly, his face unreadable. “What?” he asked.